Mintstar's Story
by Bluestar4ever
Summary: Mintkit is born into MountainClan when it was the only Clan that existed. Watch as she grows up, eventually becoming leader, and as the Clan splits into four. This is the story of her life.
1. Allegiances and chapter 1

**Hi! In Mintstar's time, well, before she became leader, there was only one Clan. Over time it becomes four. There are also some bigger cats like leopards in this Clan. There isn't a forest, this Clan lives in the mountains, but it's not the Tribe of Rushing Water.**

**Allegiances**

**Mountainclan**

**Leader: **Oakstar- oak colored tom with amber eyes

**Deputy: **Yellowfur- golden dappled she-cat with brown eyes

**Medicine cat: **Sandspots- light brown she-cat with darker brown spots and amber eyes

**Apprentice:** Gingerpaw- tan she-cat with areas of brown, has amber eyes

**Warriors:**

Ringtail- orange tabby tom with stripes all over his body and amber eyes

Russetclaw- dark reddish-brown tom with black eyes

Swiftbreeze- black and white tom with green eyes

Leopardpelt- female leopard with yellow eyes

Snowcloud- male snow leopard with pale green eyes

**Apprentice: **Rootpaw

Cloudspots- white she-cat with two gray spots, has orange eyes

Orangefur- male leopard with red eyes

Pebblefur- brown tom with black spots, has amber eyes

**Apprentice: **Treepaw

Redclaw- reddish-brown tom with red eyes

** Apprentice: **Mudpaw

Sparrowwing- light brown she-cat with white chest, has yellow eyes

Stormclaw- dark gray tom with dark blue eyes

Eaglestripe- brown she-cat with light brown stripe down her back, has yellow eyes

Voleclaw- golden-brown tom with brown eyes

**Apprentices:**

Mudpaw- dark brown tome with lighter brown stripes, has amber eyes

Rootpaw- brown and cream she-cat with blue eyes

Treepaw- dark brown and white tom with blue eyes

**Queens: **

Flowertail- brown and white she-cat with darker brown stripes and distinctive black marking on head, has pale green eyes (expecting Russetclaw's kits)

Willowfur- light gray she-cat with blue eyes (mother of Mintkit and Peachkit, father- Voleclaw)

**Kits:**

Mintkit- gray she-kit with blue eyes

Peachkit- pale orange she-kit with lighter stripes, has green eyes

Orangekit- orange tom with green eyes (mother is Yellowfur, though she doesn't stay in the nursery)

**Elders:**

Ripplepelt- black and white tom with green eyes

Whitetail- white she-cat with blue eyes

Chapter 1

It was leaf-bare. The cold wind carried the snow off the ground in wisps. Warriors buzzed in the camp, constantly going in and out. In the farthest corner of the camp, Mintkit, Peachkit, and Orangekit were playing with a ball of moss.

"I got it!" Mintkit yowled. She leapt up and caught the wad between her tiny claws. Satisfaction rippled through her as she unconsciously tore it into tiny pieces.

"Mintkit!" Peachkit glared at her. "What'd you do that for?" Mintkit came to her senses and stared at the mess at her paws. "Sorry," she mewed ruefully. "It's fine, we can do something else." Orangekit meowed. "What else is there to do? We're so close to being apprentices and it's so boring!" Peachkit exclaimed. They were five moons old, all born near the same time.

Mintkit suddenly had a mischievous glint in her eyes. "What is it Mintkit?" Orangekit asked curiously. "I'm thinking…" she whispered, "that we should sneak out and explore!"

"We should!" Peachkit mewed excitedly, forgetting that she was mad at her sister. Orangekit looked reluctant at first, but then gave in. "Okay," he meowed. Mintkit scanned the camp. "Alright, maybe we can sneak through the dirtplace cave?" she suggested. Peachkit wrinkled her nose. "Isn't there any _other_ place?" she meowed.

"No, unless we want to get caught." Orangekit mewed. "We should just go through it and get it over with." The three kits bounded through the cave, wrinkling their noses and trying not to make any noise. They got through, where fresh air greeted them. The kits were speechless at what they saw.

Various rocks and stones were scatted along the territory. Snow covered them, making them look soft. The sky was a beautiful shade of light blue with streaks of gold and pink along the lower half as the sun was setting. In the distance, huge, tall mountains were standing against the horizon with their snow-capped peaks.

"Whoa," all of them breathed. "This is amazing!" Mintkit exclaimed. "What's so bad about this place that we can't go out here by ourselves?" she wondered, not really talking to anyone in particular. She and her denmates walked around, sniffing at anything around them. Suddenly, a screech broke through the air. The kits stiffened. Mintkit dared to look up and huge shape was above them, its wings at its sides, longer than the three of them together. She realized it was an eagle.

_Don't panic, don't panic. That's the worst thing you can do when you encounter an eagle!_ "Do not move, whatever you do!" she breathed out the side of her mouth. "Then what are we-" Orangekit's mew was cut off by the eagle's screech. It flew down rapidly and Mintkit could feel the rush of air as the eagle flew towards them. She prepared to feel the sharp claws pierce her fur and carry her off the ground, but it never happened.

The eagle let out another cry as it was knocked out of the air. Fur flashed by Mintkit and it was hard for her to tell how many cats there were. She looked over and saw the bird lying on its side, its head hanging at an odd angle. Mintkit now recognized the four warriors. They were Sparrowwing, Stormclaw, Leopardpelt, and Voleclaw. Mintkit and her sister shrank down in the snow, feeling their father's eyes boring into them.

"What. Were. You. Doing?" Voleclaw growled angrily. Orangekit now sunk in the snow too and hung his head. Not giving them a chance to respond, he meowed, "You could've been killed! There are dangerous things in this world! Do you understand why kits don't go out by themselves?" They nodded. "If it weren't for us close by, you would've been crow-food!" Sparrowwing rested her tail on Voleclaw's shoulders.

"Don't be so harsh on these kits. I think they learned their lesson now. They won't do it again. A lot of kits try to sneak out. This isn't the first time." she told him. Voleclaw sighed. "I know, but Mintkit and Peachkit are my kits. And Orangekit is the deputy's son. I don't want them to get hurt."

"The important thing is that they're not. We should get back to camp and tell Oakstar." Stormclaw meowed. "Wait, what about this eagle?" Leopardpelt asked. Voleclaw looked at it. "Leave it," he decided. "It's not worth eating." The patrol lead the kits back to camp. _What's gonna happen to us now?_ Mintkit though sadly as she followed her Clanmates.

**Well, that's the first chapter! Was it good? Bad? Please give me feedback! It would be really appreciated!**


	2. Chapter 2

"Oakstar?" Voleclaw meowed outside his leader's den. The three kits were standing besides him nervously. Mintkit flexed her claws onto the stone while her sister fidgeted beside her. Orangekit was motionless next to Peachkit, hanging his head.

"Come in, Voleclaw." Oakstar called. He was sitting in his nest with his tail wrapped around his paws. Mintkit always wondered what the leader's den would look like, and she wanted to see it, but not this way. It was a cave, like all the other dens, but it was darker, with only the light of the sun filtering in. His eyes widened in surprise when he saw the kits follow the warrior. "What's wrong?" he asked.

"These kits have gone out of camp and were almost killed by an eagle! If it wasn't for us, StarClan knows if they would've survived." Voleclaw growled, his brown eyes flashing.

"Do we have to wait another moon before we become apprentices?" Mintkit spoke up, her voice filled with worry. She hoped they didn't. She just wanted to have some fun before they became apprentices. _I don't think I could stand to wait another moon!_

Oakstar gazed at the kits for several heartbeats, appearing to be deep in thought. At last he spoke, "No, but you will be punished. For the next moon, starting tomorrow, you will share the job of checking the elders of ticks and bringing them fresh-kill. You can tell the apprentices that. I'm sure they'll be glad to hear it." His eyes glittered mischievously.

"Oakstar," Voleclaw dipped his head, "Shouldn't they get their bedding as well?" The leader frowned. "They are too young for that. However, they can check it for thorns. Since there are three jobs, you can each do one and share."

Mintkit hung her head disappointedly. They weren't supposed to do this yet! Oakstar excused them and Mintkit found out that it was darker. Stars lit up the sky and she could imagine each of them being one of the dead cats that were in StarClan. The voice of her father jolted Mintkit out of her thoughts.

"Why don't you get prey for your mother and yourselves?" he suggested, his voice more gentle since he found out what they did. "It's getting late. I'll go tell the apprentices."

"Okay," Mintkit padded to the fresh-kill pile with the others following close behind to see what was left. Most of it was picked through from earlier but there was still a plump vole, two mice, and a shrew. "What do you guys want?" she asked.

"How about the vole?" Orangekit meowed.

"Sure," Peachkit mewed, picking it up in her jaws.

"I'll take the shrew to Willowfur." Mintkit decided.

Willowfur was sitting up in her nest when the kits arrived. "I heard what happened," she meowed once they came in, "You should've known better!" she scolded.

"I'm sorry," Mintkit meowed when she gave the shrew to her mother. Peachkit and Orangekit said the same.

"The thing that matters is that you're safe." Willowfur replied, eating her shrew quickly. "Now eat your vole and get some rest. You'll have a big day tomorrow."

Sunlight shone through the den, waking up Mintkit. She glanced around the nursery. Her mother and denmates were asleep and Flowertail was gone.It was just after dawn and soon the Clan would be waking up. She licked her fur, getting all the knots untangled from yesterday. By the time she finished, Peachkit and Orangekit were starting to wake up.

Peachkit yawned and stretched her muscles. "Time to start our punishment." she muttered, looking pointedly at her sister.

"Hey!" Mintkit objected. "I didn't know there would be an eagle attacking us!"

"She's right; no one can know things like that. It _was_ fun though." Orangekit meowed wistfully. Mintkit flashed a grateful glance to him. "We're almost apprentices so it's not that bad." he added.

"I guess." Peachkit mewed. "I'm hungry; let's see if the fresh-kill pile is restocked."

"You take a stick with moss with bile and you go through the elder's fur for ticks. When you see one, dab it with the moss, and the tick will fall right off." Sandspots explained to Mintkit. She had offered to do this job first. Peachkit and Orangekit seemed happy about that. Orangekit was giving fresh-kill to the elders after she searched for ticks and Peachkit gave them their bedding.

"Okay." she replied. Sandspots padded back to her storage area, which was a large crevice in a boulder at the back of her den. She came out holding the stick in her jaws with the ball of moss dangling from the end. Mintkit wrinkled her nose from the smell. _Great StarClan, this stinks!_

Sandspots gave her the stick. "Don't lick your paws when you're done." the medicine cat told her. "Get someone to take you to the stream so you can wash your paws. It hasn't frozen over yet." The stream on their territory was right by the camp so they could easily get water if they needed it for an emergency. Mintkit nodded and padded out of the den.

She crossed the camp which was pretty much deserted; most of the cats were on patrols or training. It had begun to snow so other cats were in their dens escaping the cold. Mintkit saw Rootpaw helping her sister sort through the moss to make sure there were no thorns. Orangekit was no where to be seen. The kits have visited the elders before to hear stories. She padded into the den and they looked up when she entered.

"Ah, hello Mintkit," Ripplepelt meowed warmly. He noticed the mouse bile she was carrying. "Oh no, the apprentices didn't make you do this did they?" he asked.

Mintkit shook her head. "We got in trouble for sneaking out." she mewed out of the side of her mouth.

"Oh, I remember now." Whitetail, Ripplepelt's mate, meowed. "Don't worry, you're not the first. Swiftbreeze and Sparrowwing got caught when they were kits too." She purred, mentioning her son, Swiftbreeze. Sparrowwing grew up with him.

Mintkit didn't say anything; she just poked into Ripplepelt's fur and searched for the insects. Whitetail launched into a memory about Swiftbreeze and Sparrowwing when they were kits but she was only half listening. Mintkit found a tiny black thing and dabbed it with the bile. It dropped off quickly. _Gross!_ She found two more and went on to Whitetail.

"Thank you, that feels much better." Ripplepelt sighed. He rested his tail over his nose and closed his eyes.

Mintkit found only two ticks in Whitetail. She stopped talking about Swiftbreeze long enough to thank her. Before she continued, Mintkit told her she had to leave.

"I have to go wash off my paws. Peachkit and Orangekit will be in soon with new bedding and fresh-kill." she meowed.

"Alright, I guess you better get going." Whitetail meowed sadly. "Oh well, you can always come here if you have nothing else to do!" Mintkit nodded and promised she would and headed back to the medicine cat den.

"Mintkit!" her sister called.

"What?" she asked, setting down the mouse bile so she could talk regularly.

"I just wanted to see how your job went." Peachkit replied.

"Oh, it's really disgusting watching the ticks fall off." The two she-kits wrinkled their noses at the same time. "But Whitetail was really nice even though we got in trouble."

"That's good. I better go now, don't want to keep anybody waiting." Peachkit nodded towards the fresh-kill pile, seeing Orangekit coming with prey in his jaws. "See you later."

"Yeah, bye." Mintkit continued walking to the Sandspot's den. She didn't know who she was going to ask to take her to the stream. She wasn't that comfortable with most of the warriors. Her father was probably one of the cats on a patrol so she couldn't ask him.

"You're back." Sandspots greeted her. "I'll have Gingerpaw take you down to the stream to wash your paws." "Gingerpaw!" she called. The tan-colored she-cat poked her head from the crevice. "I need you to take Mintkit to the stream to wash her paws." the medicine cat explained.

"Okay," Gingerpaw meowed. She smiled and turned to Mintkit. "Come on," She led the way out of camp and into a place Mintkit didn't see when she sneaked out.

"Sneaking out huh?" the medicine cat apprentice asked as Mintkit stepped tentatively toward the water.

"Yeah," Mintkit replied glumly.

Gingerpaw twitched her whiskers. "I remember wanting to get out of camp." she meowed.

"Really what-!" Mintkit's meow was cut off by a yowl of surprise. She pulled her paw out of the water. "It's so cold!" she gasped.

Gingerpaw purred. "Of course! It's leaf-bare. The water's even colder now."

Mintkit sighed and put her paws back in the stream. She washed them until she was sure the bile was off them and when she was done, she shook them, the water droplets flying onto the snow. "I'm done, let's go." They started walking back to camp.

"I was going to ask you, what happened but I never got a chance to ask again." Mintkit meowed.

"Oh, Mudpaw, Treepaw, Rootpaw and I wanted to get out of camp but we never did." Gingerpaw replied.

"Oh."

They walked through the camp entrance and Mintkit found Orangekit and her sister waiting for her.

"I have to go." Mintkit meowed. She didn't really want to leave Gingerpaw, she liked her and she didn't treat her like a kit. But Gingerpaw had things to do too.

"Okay, maybe I can show you some herbs sometime." Gingerpaw suggested.

"Yeah, okay." Mintkit agreed. "See you later?" she meowed hopefully. Gingerpaw nodded. Mintkit padded to the other kits, feeling a smile form on her lips, happy on how this day turned out.

**I wanted to get this chapter up before I have no time to work on this. Midterms are in two weeks and I'll be busy studying. I'm sorry if it takes forever to update!**


	3. Chapter 3

**Yeah, it did take forever didn't it? I'm sorry; it took longer than I thought. But I'm not going to keep on talking, so on with chapter 3!**

"Let all cats gather for a Clan meeting!" Oakstar's call rang around the clearing. Mintkit watched her mother groom Peachkit.

"Oh no, you still have knots in your fur!" Willowfur meowed distressfully.

"Mom, its fine! I have to go!" Peachkit shrank away from their mother's grasp. Mintkit followed her sister out the nursery, Willowfur following her.

Orangekit was waiting for them, his eyes shining. "It's finally our day!" he meowed happily.

"I know!" Mintkit smiled and made herself walk over to her denmate.

The three kits made their way to Oakstar. Mintkit could feel her Clanmates staring through her back. Inside, she was bubbling with excitement. _I wonder who my mentor is going to be._

"Today is a big day. We will be welcoming three kits into the Clan. Orangekit, come forward," Oakstar beckoned the orange tom. "Orangekit, from this day until you receive your warrior name, you will be known as Orangepaw. Your mentor will be Eaglestripe." The brown she-cat padded up to her new apprentice looking surprised but pleased, and touched noses with him. "Eaglestripe, this is your first time having an apprentice. I trust that you will teach Orangepaw everything you've been taught from Yellowfur." Oakstar meowed.

Eaglestripe dipped her head. "I will Oakstar."

Oakstar turned to Mintkit and Peachkit. "Mintkit, step forward." With trembling paws, she walked up to him. "Mintkit, from this day until you receive your warrior name, you will be known as Mintpaw. Russetclaw will be your mentor." Mintpaw looked over to see the russet-colored tom pad up to her. He looked like he knew she would be his apprentice, but his eyes shone with pride anyway. Mintpaw touched noses with her mentor. Then Oakstar beckoned her sister up.

"Peachkit, from this day until you receive your warrior name, you will be known as Peachpaw. Swiftbreeze will be your mentor." The black and white warrior walked up to Peachpaw. They touched noses.

"Orangepaw, Mintpaw, Peachpaw!" the Clan yowled.

Mintpaw felt a surge of pride run through her. She was finally an apprentice! She couldn't wait to start training. Mintpaw padded alongside Russetclaw. "What are we going to do today?" she asked excitedly.

"We're just going to show you the territory." Russetclaw replied.

"We?" Mintpaw asked.

"Swiftbreeze and Eaglestripe will be coming too." Mintpaw's mentor meowed with sparkling eyes.

Mintpaw gave an excited bounce. "Yay!" Russetclaw let out a purr of amusement and once Swiftbreeze and Eaglestripe padded up with their apprentices, he led the way out into MountainClan's territory.

The cats' claws scraped the stones as they walked up a slope. Various rocks were scattered across the solid, gray ground. Grit from the loose stones stuck to the apprentice's paw pads. A stream was frozen in the bank, the ice sparkling in the sun.

"There are stones in my paws." Mintpaw complained. Peachpaw and Orangepaw nodded in agreement.

"They're not stones, it's just grit. It happens all the time to first-time apprentices. Their paw pads aren't hardened yet to keep the grit out. Once you walk on this terrain more, your paws will start to look like this." Eaglestripe lifted one of her paws up and they peered in closely. Her pads were a dark gray, and tough, not like the dark pink the apprentices had.

"But they hurt when I step on them." Peachpaw meowed.

Russetclaw walked over to the frozen stream. "Our territory stops on the other side of this stream." he meowed. "When it thaws, you'll be able to hear it run. The water's cold all year round. I can break some of the ice and you can wash off your paws. They'll get gritty again though." He raised a paw and struck it down on the ice. It made a cracking hole with the dark water swirling beneath it. Mintpaw, Peachpaw, and Orangepaw dipped their paws into the stream.

"It's freezing!" Orangepaw gasped and immediately thrust his paws out of the water.

"Russetclaw warned you." Swiftbreeze meowed jokingly.

"I know, but I didn't expect it to be this cold!" Peachpaw exclaimed.

Mintpaw calmly took her paws out of the water. "I had to wash my paws in the stream before," she meowed. "But it wasn't this stream."

"We have two streams running through our territory." Russetclaw explained. "Now, let's move on."

Mintpaw was exhausted after seeing her whole territory. There were so many mountains and boulders. She had to wash the grit from her paws again before coming back to camp. She couldn't wait for the next day though. Russetclaw was going to teach her how to hunt. Mintpaw padded over to the fresh-kill pile. She was starving from the walk.

"Mintpaw, over here!" Mintpaw looked over her shoulder. Gingerpaw was standing with a robin sitting next to her paws. "Do you want to share this?"

"Sure," Mintpaw walked over to her friend.

"How was your first day of being an apprentice?" Gingerpaw asked.

"It was great! I got to see everything!" Mintpaw replied happily.

"That's good. Do you know what you're doing tomorrow?"

"Russetclaw is taking me hunting. I hope I'll catch something on my first try."

"That doesn't usually happen. You have to have a lot of practice." Gingerpaw stated.

"Have you caught anything?"

"Yes, but not much. Medicine cats don't hunt or fight but they get a little bit of practice. I hope you catch something tomorrow. Here, you can have the rest of the bird." Gingerpaw pushed the robin towards Mintpaw.

Mintpaw finished it in a few bites. "Thanks, I'll tell you what happened tomorrow, I'm going to get some rest." She padded to her new den.

Bye!" Gingerpaw called. Mintpaw waved her tail in response. When she got to her den, she found three new nests were made closer to the entrance. _Probably the other apprentices._ Mintpaw picked the one in the middle, and circled it before she lay down. She tried to fall asleep but she was too excited from today. She closed her eyes, hoping sleep would overcome her, but it didn't.

A little later, Peachpaw and Orangepaw came in. Mintpaw lifted her head. "Hey,"

"Couldn't fall asleep?" Peachpaw asked.

"No,"

"Oh, well, I'm tired so I'll just pick this nest." Peachpaw picked the one on the right of Mintpaw. Orangepaw took the one to the left.

"Goodnight Mintpaw." he meowed.

"Goodnight." Peachpaw also meowed, her jaws gaping into yawn.

"Goodnight Orangepaw, goodnight Peachpaw." Mintpaw replied before her eyes closed and she fell into a dreamless sleep.

**I'm excited for the next chapter, Mintpaw learns how to hunt! That should be fun to write. :) **

**Lol, I'm drinking a Shamrock Shake while writing this. Mint shake=Mintpaw!**

**Review please to tell me what you thought!**

**~Bluestar4ever**


	4. Chapter 4

"Mintpaw!"

Russetclaw was standing outside the apprentice's den. Mintpaw stood up from her nest and stretched, arching her back. She padded out of then den, blinking sleep from her eyes.

"It's so early," Mintpaw complained, dragging her paws to stand in front of her mentor.

"You'll get used to it," Russetclaw told her. "Get something to eat, then I'll teach you how to hunt."

Mintpaw dipped her head obediently and padded over to the fresh-kill pile. She rummaged through it, finding a vole. In a few bites, she finished it. After she was done, Mintpaw quickly washed herself and, not wanting to keep Russetclaw waiting, she trotted over to him.

"So, where are we going to hunt?" Mintpaw paced excitedly around the red-brown warrior. "_What_ are we going to hunt?"

Russetclaw purred in amusement. "We'll be hunting by the stream that runs through the east side of our territory-the one you were at when you were still a kit. As for what we are hunting, we'll just have to find out." Russetclaw led the way to the stream while Mintpaw followed him.

When they reached the stream, Russetclaw lifted his tail to signal Mintpaw to stop. "I'm going to teach you the hunter's crouch. Once I show you, I want you to try to imitate me the best you can." The warrior dropped on the ground, tucking his front paws a little bit beneath him and keeping his tail still, a mouse-length above the ground. His belly fur was also the same length aboveground as his tail.

Russetclaw sat up after a few moments. "Now you try." he meowed.

Mintpaw tried her best to imitate her mentor. She tucked her paws beneath her and kept her belly and tail above the ground. Russetclaw walked over to help her.

"Spread your paws out more evenly and try to keep your weight the same on both sides. Your prey will be able to sense you coming if all of your weight is on one side of your body."

Mintpaw nodded and moved her paws farther apart.

"Good! Sit up and try again," Russetclaw ordered.

"Keep your tail still!" Russetclaw called out. He had felt that Mintpaw got the crouch down, now he was teaching her to stalk her prey, which was, a rock.

Mintpaw hissed in annoyance. Stalking was so much harder than doing the crouch. She would either be walking lopsided, her belly would be brushing the ground-apparently mice, voles, and other ground animals would be able to sense those movements, - she'd be stepping too noisily, and now this. She sat up. "I'll never get it right." Mintpaw muttered sadly.

"Don't worry, you'll get it right eventually." Russetclaw encouraged. Suddenly, he stiffened, lifting his tail to tell Mintpaw to be quiet. The apprentice gazed questioningly as Russetclaw dropped into the hunter's crouch and moved forward like he just taught her. He bunched his muscles beneath him and pounced a few paces forward. Russetclaw swiped a paw out; hooking onto his claws was a mouse. He came back, the mouse dangling in his jaws. "And that's how you catch something." Russetclaw stated, eyes shining.

"Cool! I want to try!" Mintpaw exclaimed. Then she realized she had sounded like a kit. "Sorry, that sounded dumb." she apologized.

"Its fine," Russetclaw assured her. "Remember, this is your first time hunting. You'll get plenty of chances-once you can get the stalking part down." His eyes gleamed teasingly.

Russetclaw's teasing made a surge of determination run through Mintpaw. "I'm going to master stalking and catch something!" she meowed, her eyes hardening.

"That's what I want to hear! Let's try it again." Russetclaw gazed proudly at his apprentice.

Mintpaw was concentrating only on her stalking. She had been practicing all day. Sunhigh came and passed a while ago. Now, the sun would be going down in a few hours. It hadn't snowed, which was good, and the little sunlight had kept Mintpaw and Russetclaw warm.

She was keeping low to the ground, making sure that she was doing everything Russetclaw had ordered her to do. Her weight was balanced and her pawsteps were light and soundless. Russetclaw was studying her. She hadn't done anything wrong yet. Confident, Mintpaw took another step and focused on the rock that was supposed to be her prey. _Rocks aren't very good at pretending to be prey-they never move!_ She bunched her muscles beneath her, like she saw Russetclaw do earlier, and jumped, stretching her paws out to catch the rock. Mintpaw looked back at her mentor, wondering how she did.

"Well done," he praised. "I think you can try for real now."

Mintpaw glanced at the sun, narrowing her eyes. "Won't the sun be going down soon?" she asked.

"We've got enough time. Now, open your mouth to taste the air. What can you smell?"

Mintpaw obediently did what she was told. She could feel the crisp, mountain air bathe her tongue, washing over her like a wave in the river. Not wanting to get too distracted, the light gray she-cat shook her head, concentrating on sniffing out her prey. There was a scent of vole, and judging by where she was, it was close by.

"Vole!" Mintpaw whispered excitedly, eyes shining brightly. Russetclaw nodded. She whipped her head around, suddenly finding it nibbling some seeds.

"Can you try to catch it?" Russetclaw's hiss barely reached her.

"Yes!"

Mintpaw crouched down, making sure to get it right. She started stalking it, her heart racing in excitement and nervousness. Treading lightly, Mintpaw carefully set each paw down. But she forgot about her tail, and it brushed against the rocky ground. The vole looked up fearfully and scampered away.

"Mouse dung!" Mintpaw lashed her tail. "I was so close!"

"It's okay, it was your first try. Want to try again?"

They walked a bit farther, trying to scent out any animal that might still be out during leaf-bare. Soon, Mintpaw caught a scent of a mouse.

"Russetclaw!" she hissed.

He turned to her. "What is it?" he whispered back.

"There's a mouse."

He looked over to where Mintpaw was pointing and sure enough, there was a mouse scratching the earth in search of nuts. "Go for it," her mentor meowed.

Once again, Mintpaw crouched, and started stalking toward it. Her heart was thundering inside of her; she felt like everything around her could hear it beating. Keeping her paw steps light _and_ her tail above the ground, she drew nearer. She paused, considering the distance between her and her prey. Mintpaw bunched her muscles to jump, thinking she could make it. The mouse still had no idea she was there. Mintpaw finally jumped, landing squarely on the mouse, killing it with a quick bite to the neck, just as Russetclaw had done. She looked at her paws, seeing the mouse lie in front of them. Her heart still thudding, she couldn't believe it. But the mouse was real. Mintpaw had caught her very first piece of prey. _I caught a mouse!_

**Sorry for the long wait… It's horrible, I know. I'm trying to improve it though.**

**Have you guys got and read The Last Hope? How did you like it? I just finished it Monday and was, well, shocked I guess. **

**Reviews are always welcome!**

**~Bluestar4ever**


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